Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without
digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?

I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water table
or some other reasons.

Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to call. I
don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing contractors because
they are usually interested in selling a service than fully understanding
the problem.

On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:30:07 -0700, "bob" wrote:

Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without
digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?

I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water table
or some other reasons.

Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to call. I
don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing contractors because
they are usually interested in selling a service than fully understanding
the problem.


Perhaps a well digger would know at least if the general area has high
or low water, but there are always exceptions. I don't think that is
going to solve your problem or give you the proper answer.

Soil type, climate, drainage also enter into this. Unless you live in
the Mojave, there is moisture in the ground that can affect your
crawlspace. Rather than calling a contractor, I'd do some
investigating as to what is normally done to correct the problem.
Perhaps just some ventilation and sheets of plastic over the soil will
be enough to keep it dry.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:30:07 -0700, "bob" wrote:

Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without
digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?

I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water table
or some other reasons.

Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to call. I
don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing contractors because
they are usually interested in selling a service than fully understanding
the problem.


Perhaps a well digger would know at least if the general area has high
or low water, but there are always exceptions. I don't think that is
going to solve your problem or give you the proper answer.

Soil type, climate, drainage also enter into this. Unless you live in
the Mojave, there is moisture in the ground that can affect your
crawlspace. Rather than calling a contractor, I'd do some
investigating as to what is normally done to correct the problem.
Perhaps just some ventilation and sheets of plastic over the soil will
be enough to keep it dry.

Hi,
Professional engineers who specialize in the matter. My son is a civil
engineer with water specialty. His consulting company deals with this
sort of things all the time. They check water tables, flood mitigation
strategy, drainage, recycling, etc. all the time.

On Friday, September 27, 2013 9:07:37 AM UTC-4, Tony Hwang wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:30:07 -0700, "bob" wrote:



Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without

digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?



I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water table

or some other reasons.



Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to call. I

don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing contractors because

they are usually interested in selling a service than fully understanding

the problem.





Perhaps a well digger would know at least if the general area has high

or low water, but there are always exceptions. I don't think that is

going to solve your problem or give you the proper answer.



Soil type, climate, drainage also enter into this. Unless you live in

the Mojave, there is moisture in the ground that can affect your

crawlspace. Rather than calling a contractor, I'd do some

investigating as to what is normally done to correct the problem.

Perhaps just some ventilation and sheets of plastic over the soil will

be enough to keep it dry.



Hi,

Professional engineers who specialize in the matter. My son is a civil

engineer with water specialty. His consulting company deals with this

sort of things all the time. They check water tables, flood mitigation

strategy, drainage, recycling, etc. all the time.

It would seem the water table level is only an issue if it's
near the level of the crawlspace, ie we're trying to determine
if it's 2 ft or 8 ft etc, not if it's at 30ft ft.

In that case, just get a post hole digger. The screw type
have pipe extension handles and I've used them to actually
go down like 20 ft or so.

"bob" writes:

Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without
digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?

I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water
table or some other reasons.

Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to
call. I don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing
contractors because they are usually interested in selling a service
than fully understanding the problem.

I'm far from a pro, but if the water table is high enough to make
your crawlspace damp, I think it has to be pretty near the surface.
Dig a hole about 1 foot down with hand tools. If it fills with
water that's the problem.

My guess is water table 2 feet down should not be a problem.

Is there any kind of air circulation in the crawl space?

--
Dan Espen

bob wrote:
Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without
digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?

I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high
water table or some other reasons.

Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to
call. I don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing
contractors because they are usually interested in selling a service
than fully understanding the problem.

Is this crawlspace well ventilated?

If your soil isn't too rocky, you could use this method to make a hole, and put
a "PVC well point" into that hole. Then use a stick or float on a string to find
the water level. It uses water pressure and 2" PVC pipe to drill the hole. Then
you slip the well point into the larger PVC, and pull out the larger PVC,
leaving the well point in the ground.
http://www.drillyourownwell.com/background.htm

https://www.google.com/search?q=brad...x=&startPage=1

Lowes list a number of well points on their site, or you can order them at other
hardware stores like ACE.

Another guide.
http://prepperchicks0.homestead.com/...stallation.pdf

On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:30:07 -0700, "bob" wrote:

Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without
digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?

I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water table
or some other reasons.

Does it have a floor? A fairly waterproof floor. Ours didn't. Just
earth, which would have been fine if it had always been dry.

Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to call. I
don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing contractors because
they are usually interested in selling a service than fully understanding
the problem.

Our crawlspace ranged from soaking wed to muddy wet, depending on the
season. Sometimes the mud even clumped up, but it never got dry.

In Indiana, we had all the vents open during the half year they said
to keep them open. I forget what season that was. Summer? There
were iirc only about 6 vents for a house about 80 feet wide by 30 feet
deep.

There was a trap door in the closet in the den. We attached hinges,
to use as handles. But after the first two abortive tries, we never
went in the crawl space again (and in 9 years, never had to either,
although it would have been nice to look under the house at least
once. It just got too much mud on my shoes and socks and legs, and
it was hard to get the shoes to the outside without getting mud on the
floor.) The wet crawlspace never caused any problems in the house.
No bugs, no need for poison, no mold. If it increased humidity, I
don't know. We had no air conditioning, and summer was hot. It was
humid but it was humid outside and everywhere.. We used fans.

In the middle of this, I noted that the street map of Indianapolis and
suburbs showed a stream a little bit south of us, though there was no
park or anything, no culvert under the road afaicr. I walked down via
the back yards 200 or 300 feet and I found a back yard that was
soaking wet. The crawl spaces were about 3 or 4 feet below the
backyards, so they could probably go swimming in his crawl space.
I'm thinking maybe the builder sold the house in August, because as
the song says, it doesn't rain in Indianapoilis in the summertime.
Maybe their yard was dry for a month or two.

I didnt' check the guy's front yard, and I didn't check across the
street. Across the street was a country club. It had 8 foot high
bushes that were like a wall. I was never curious if the stream
turned into a real stream there, until just now.

So if your crawlspace can't be saved, be happy that you have your
yard.

On Friday, September 27, 2013 2:30:07 AM UTC-4, bob wrote:
Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without

digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?



I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water table

or some other reasons.



Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to call. I

don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing contractors because

they are usually interested in selling a service than fully understanding

the problem.

The gorund in ours is often a bit damp. Unprotected iron would start rusting pretty quickly. I put down 8mil plastic sheeting all the way to the edges and that reduced the humidity considerably.

Professional engineers who specialize in the matter. My son is a civil
engineer with water specialty. His consulting company deals with this
sort of things all the time. They check water tables, flood mitigation
strategy, drainage, recycling, etc. all the time.

How do I find such engineers in my area (seattle)?

Is there some sort of professional associations I can request referrals
from?

In answer to other replies, I have already tried all the normal stuff. Now
I'm ready to try the less normal stuff.

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 14:20:23 -0700, "bob" wrote:

Is there some sort of professional associations I can request referrals
from?

In answer to other replies, I have already tried all the normal stuff. Now
I'm ready to try the less normal stuff.

Folks trained in, or that study "Geology and Water".

My water table is 387 feet below the surface at 2500 feet above sea
level. No worry for me to drain my pool or worry about it "popping"
out of the ground.

See: _U.S. Geological Survey publications containing water-table maps_
for a start.

On 9/27/2013 5:18 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:30:07 -0700, "bob" wrote:

Is there a way to measure the water table level under my yard without
digging a deep hole? Perhaps some sort of radar or sonic equipment?

I'm trying to figure out if my damp crawlspace is caused by high water table
or some other reasons.

Are there any professionals who can do this? I don't know who to call. I
don't want to call just any crawlspace waterproofing contractors because
they are usually interested in selling a service than fully understanding
the problem.


Perhaps a well digger would know at least if the general area has high
or low water, but there are always exceptions. I don't think that is
going to solve your problem or give you the proper answer.

Soil type, climate, drainage also enter into this. Unless you live in
the Mojave, there is moisture in the ground that can affect your
crawlspace. Rather than calling a contractor, I'd do some
investigating as to what is normally done to correct the problem.
Perhaps just some ventilation and sheets of plastic over the soil will
be enough to keep it dry.


One of the things people fail to consider when they ask a question is,
"what am I gonna do with the answer when I get it?"

Draw a chart with various possible depths of water table.
Next to each, write what you're gonna do if the answer is "that one".
If all the answers are the same, answering the question won't help you.

Think of a different question where your ACTIONS tomorrow depend
on the answer.

If your answer changes at a given depth, all you need to do is determine
whether it's higher or lower than that critical depth. That might be
considerably easier than determining the actual depth.

A general solution is not always the optimal one.

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 17:02:44 -0700, mike wrote:

One of the things people fail to consider when they ask a question is,
"what am I gonna do with the answer when I get it?"

I once made that decision about amniocentesis ...

But one question for the OP:
Do you have a well?

If so, there are ways to tell the water level.

On Sat, 28 Sep 2013 04:09:48 +0000 (UTC), Alex Gunderson
wrote:

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 17:02:44 -0700, mike wrote:

One of the things people fail to consider when they ask a question is,
"what am I gonna do with the answer when I get it?"

I once made that decision about amniocentesis ...

That certainly depends on the question you're trying to answer. BTW,
you've had amniocentesis, Alex?

But one question for the OP:
Do you have a well?

If so, there are ways to tell the water level.

I think he wants one.